What you talkin' 'bout, Villas?

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  Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India
Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Caught the overnight train from Mumbai to Aurangabad, chatting to an Indian family enroute. Arriving in Aurangabad at 4.30am, I was accosted (as is usual) by a tout on the platform, who offered to take me to a hotel which sounded like it suited me. The room was grubby but acceptable, and at that time of the morning I wasn't too fussy so I took it. My driver was trying to lock me into a tour to the Ajanta caves in the morning, but I knew I'd be too buggered for that. Had a good sleep in, and thought I'd go for a wandfer to get an idea of the area, only to have my driver pounce on me yet again, trying once more to get my business. I wandered along the street and realised I was in a non-tourist area so there was nothing to see. Some more rickshaw drivers tried to attract me, and in the end I relented, thinking I'd at least look at some other hotels. I'd discovered that the shower and toilet cistern at my one had not functioned for many decades.

My new driver was Villas (pronounced Willis) and he was a genuinely friendly guy (something I'd rarely say about rickshaw wallahs). He took me to the Hotel Indradeep, which was much cleaner and had functioning facilities (in fact, this was the best hotel since my arrival). I paid Rs.500/night (A$15).

I pretty much slept and relaxed at my new hotel in the afternoon. Turned out the other driver I had spurned was Villas' brother! Oh well.

Next day I went with Villas to see the Dautarabad Fort (sp?) and Ellora Caves. Took a long trek in the late morning sun to the top of the fort and back. I could tell I was overheated, so it was no surprise to see my very red face in reflection in the rickshaw's rear-vision mirror upon my return. I never got sunburnt in India before, something i put down to the increased air pollution, so this was to be the first time.

Next we were off to Ellora. The caves are very ancient and represent different religions, Jain, Hindu and Buddhist. Many of the Buddhist ones are similar, large square cute halls with smaller rooms at the sides and one at the end featuring a large Buddha. They were all carved straight out of the cliffs. Other caves were quite spectacular, featuring different incarnations of Shiva, etc. As I looked at the last cave it began to rain quite heavily. I returned to Villas and we headed back to Aurangabad, stopping first for lunch. Just in time, as it happened, as the rain became a massive thunderstorm with the troad turning into a muddy river. Guess the monsoon's not quite done yet.

Travelling by rickshaw is fun. It's bumpy as hell but with the breeze in your face it can be lovely. With the rain in your face, less so.

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